Letters

As organizer of the Center for Rural Affairs Land Link program, which matches beginning farmers with landowners, I talk to beginning farmers every day.
Their situations are diverse but they all share a common dream of operating a farm or ranch.
Our Land Link participant list contains over 250 beginners and fewer than 20 landowners.
Recognizing this "bottle-neck" in the match making process, I encourage beginners to get creative in their search for land.

Were you aware that in Muslim and Communist countries Christians don't walk the streets in the daytime? At night they sneak out to a house where other Christians gather to pray and worship God.
If they are found out, the young girls and women are raped by gangs of Muslims and then are put on trial as prostitutes, thrown in jail until they renounce Jesus or die. The press will not tell you this.

At least that is what our governmental administrators and legislatures are saying, and no doubt that is the belief of the general populace.
The U.S. ranks 33rd in National Test Scores out of the 172 countries in the world. However, when you compare the test scores to other countries that believe all students should receive a free public education. (Oh, none of the other countries that score higher than us educate the entire populace). The exceptions are countries i.e. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, which have a population about the same as Montana with no diversity.

I had the opportunity to grow up in Chiefland and play several sports. I now live in South Florida and I never thought I would envy or have a desire to return home.
Now every week I read the Citizen and I am so proud of what our coaches are doing with their athletics. I had the privilege of playing beside some of your coaches and against them. I also taught school and was on the same coaching staff with a few.

In reply to Ginger Fuller's letter of last week ...
I am the first one to admit I know nothing about sports — love the kids but sports is not my cup of tea! But I have been around long enough to see and know the impact they make on our kids. I know a little about families and those without. I know a lot about relationships and "needing to belong."
I know first-hand about compassion when life hurts! I know that there are kids out there that get no encouragement at home, or direction for that matter.

The world sees the United States as having a weak government. They ridicule us for our debt. We are an absolute nothing in their eyes.
The following may seem disengaged from that conclusion, but try it on for size.
The energy department did an audit of Solyndra and stated the company would run out of money by this September. Washington was well aware of this, yet put $535 million into the company for political gain—not for economic income.
And our law says no more taxpayer money would go to Planned Parenthood, but Obama just gave them millions.

What we need in Florida is solar panel factories. If we had several solar factories, there would be competition, and everyone could afford solar power. And we would not need the atomic power plants in this state that Florida Power is trying to push on the people. Also, they are very dangerous. One blew up in France just recently.
With all the sun that we have here in Florida solar power is the way to go. Everyone should call the Governor's Office. The phone number is 1-850-488-4441 and tell him to get some factories going and get these people back to work.

Half way through 2011 America and Florida continue to struggle to find solutions that will stimulate our respective economies and get us back to work. For Floridians, frustration results directly from the state’s high unemployment rate (10.6 percent) and low economic growth. Hopefully this will refocus policymakers’ efforts on job creation and economic growth.
So how do we get things moving again? One way to help jumpstart the economy is through the expansion of broadband access.

Don't you agree that the majority of the population appreciates the trailers provided for our recyclables?
To be able to separate items and not make our landfill that much larger seems a real blessing.
Last week, a gentleman was replacing a full trailer, and I mentioned how sad it is that some people use them as garbage recepticles.
He replied,"Yes," pointing to some open garbage bags. "They are full of dirty diapers."
Another time, a man was parked by the trailer and was actually using a shovel to scoop trash into the windows